Quote of the day
"I've said that I support bringing (the workers' compensation agency) under the governor, and that's how I will approach it."
North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, about a possible 2008 ballot initiative
N.D. Governor Wants Power to Hire WSI Director
North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, who recently urged Workforce Safety and Insurance to hire a consultant to advise on personnel issues and claims-handling connected to the agency’s management problems, favors a proposed initiative that would give him power to hire the agency’s director. Hoeven is not saying, however, whether he will campaign for the measure if it qualifies for the ballot next year. By Dale Wetzel, AP via Dickinson Press
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Pinnacol: Centennial State Changes Will Force Employers to Adjust
Five new laws affecting Colorado’s workers’ compensation system will require most businesses to update their policies, according to a lawyer with Pinnacol Assurance, the state’s dominant workers’ compensation insurer. By Christopher Ortiz, Greeley Tribune
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UConn Prof Studies China’s Workers’ Comp System
An emeritus economics professor at the University of Connecticut has reviewed China’s new workers’ compensation program and reported to high-ranking government officials on how it is working. Peter Barth says his research found that workers in rural areas generally are excluded from any kind of workers’ comp. By Cindy Weiss, University of Connecticut Advance [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Hurt at Carnival, He is Now Homeless
A Kentucky man who was run over by a golf cart and beaten in front of several fellow workers at a Vermont carnival has received no workers’ compensation and has to live in a cemetery, awaiting the check that will allow him to get back home. By Sam Hemingway, Burlington Free Press [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Editorial: Big Sky Needs Big Changes
Montana owns the second highest rate of workplace injury in the nation, say Montana State Fund officials, and that’s a big reason its workers’ compensation insurance rates are the fifth-highest in the country. Will the state’s surplus continue and allow the 2009 budget to absorb the Old Fund’s $32.6 million funding deficit? Montana Standard (Butte)
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Granite State Attorney: There’s an ‘Antidote’ to Law Change
An amendment to New Hampshire workers’ comp law could run many of the state’s contractors out of business by jacking up their workers’ comp rates. However, argues an attorney, there is a readily-available solution. By John Cunningham via Concord Monitor
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Ohio Station Exposes Workers Defrauding System
A Toledo television station investigates people claiming they are too injured to work but collecting worker’s comp benefits that cost Ohio taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. WTVG-TV [With Video] Go to the Full Story…